Legal Work Group

Purpose

The promise of electronic health records (EHR) and health information exchange (HIE) is to enhance the quality of health care provided to patients. Patient support is essential for this to become an effective tool. To receive this support, patients must be adequately informed as to the potential use of their health records and be assured of the privacy and security of that data.

The optimal goal is to provide all patients in Illinois with the same information regarding privacy protections under the law and the necessary education to understand how their records will be safeguarded in an EHR/HIE environment. To address this goal, the task for the Legal Work Group is to develop a model uniform patient EHR/HIE consent form for possible use by the state-level HIE, clinicians, health care facilities and other providers. The Legal Work Group is also tasked with the development of a plan to disseminate the consent form and encourage its use.